Hotel St. Germain

Eating in this renovated 1906 Victorian mansion cum boutique hotel is pure alchemy; you won’t be the same once the last creamed crumb passes your lips. Dining room seams bulge with turn-of-the-century French antiques oozing lace and candle flickers. There’s a New Orleans-style courtyard, lit just enough to milk shadows from the recesses and brush. Place-settings (Waterford, Schotts-Zwiesel, Limoges, etc.) are ruthlessly proper with all manner of forks, spoons and knives in polished silver placed with feverish meticulousness. Hotel St. Germain exacts its demands. Reservations are required and must be secured at least 24 hours in advance. The complexion of your eight-course prix fixe menu (a meat or a seafood, usually)-from amuse-bouche to souffl